Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride
' Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride' is an indoor steel roller coaster featured at Universal Studios Florida in the New York area. The coaster is based upon the popular Mummy movie franchise directed by Stephen Sommers. It Opened on May 21, 2004 and was built by Premier Rides. the ride was reputed to be built at a cost of $45,000,000 USD. It has a minimum passenger height requirement of 48 inches (1.2 m). The Revenge of the Mummy coaster uses Linear induction motors (LIM), a technology used to launch riders from a complete standstill. The coaster features three LIM launches. The coaster ride lasts nearly three minutes and features a top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h)1. The track is 2200 ft long featuring no inversions, 80 degree banked turns, and a 50 degree angle of descent. The building housing the coaster was previously home to one of Universal's landmark attractions, "Kongfrontation". Homages to the Kong attraction can be found in several areas within the Mummy attraction, Including a golden statue of King Kong in the second scene of the ride. Although the coaster shares a name with the one in Hollywood, each has a unique plot and track layout. The Florida version boasts a fake unload section while the Hollywood version boasts a slightly longer backwards section climaxing in a fiery turntable ending. Ride summary Queue Guests enter the ride by browsing through a film setup for a fictional forthcoming Mummy sequel titled "Revenge of the Mummy". The film's props, molds, and concept drawings are on display near the entrance to the ride. The inside queue morphs into a 1940s archaeological dig inside an Egyptian tomb, where guests board mine cars utilizing individual lap bars. Ride As the ride begins, the cars move into another room inside the Egyptian tomb, where Reggie (a "Revenge of the Mummy" crew member who was missing on the set) is seen partly mummified and warns the riders to leave. Imhotep then comes out of a coffin, sucks out Reggie's soul, and tells riders that he will rule forever with their souls. The cars next move into a second room where there is treasure on the left and right sides of the car and a holograph of Imhotep appears in front of them and warns them to forfeit their souls while soldier mummies appear in front of the treasure. The car then quickly moves into another room where scarab beetles come pouring out of a wall in front of them and the car drops backwards and turns in a 180 degree circle and up a 45 mph blast off as Imhotep states: "Your souls are mine!" The car drops through various turns past projections of mummies and fire. There are, however, no inversions. The car comes to a stop after this, and a female ride attendant appears behind a control booth and thanks them for riding before Imhotep sucks out her life and breaks the glass, preparing to finally capture the riders souls. The car then drops down 39 ft (the highest drop in the ride) and goes down a winding drop until a Medjai symbol appears. Brendan Fraser/Rick O'Connell appears on a screen in front of them and yells at his assistant for a cup of coffee. Instead, Imhotep appears and hands it to him, followed by Fraser staring up at the character. The screen goes to black as the screams of Fraser and the roars of Imhotep are heard. Riders are directed to exit through an actual unload station. Post Show At the end of the ride, there is an area where guests may purchase a photo of them on the ride. There is also a missing persons poster with a picture of Reggie on it. Gift shop This area is followed by a Mummy themed gift shop titled "Sahara Traders" which replaced Kongfrontation's "Safari Outfitters" gift shop. Incidents On September 22, 2004, 39-year-old Jose Valadez of Apopka, Florida fell approximately 4 feet off the loading platform as he was attempting to step into the ride vehicle. He suffered injuries to his head and noted pain due to the fall. He died during surgery at the hospital.2 Employee mythology When the former attraction Kongfrontation occupied the Revenge of the Mummy show building, many employees who worked on Kongfrontation reported that the ride was haunted by the spirit of a maintenance worker named Whitaker who supposedly fell to his death near the part of the ride where the video was filmed. While these rumors are unsubstantiated, several ride operators have claimed to have refused to take empty trams through the ride, as the "ghost" would appear on the video when no guests were on the ride. During construction on Revenge of the Mummy, an electrical fire was mysteriously ignited, delaying the opening of the ride. Some have speculated that this is related to the ghost. Furthermore, several Revenge of the Mummy Ride and Show attendants working at the ride between its opening in 2004 and 2006 claim to have seen the ghost riding in their ride vehicles near the ride's unload station and in various locations of the queue. They also attributed a random recurrence of Kong's banana smell to the same ghost. The most recent documented apparition appearance took place exactly one month after the 2009 temporary seasonal closing of the Jaws ride. A worker identified only as "Robby" was performing nightly routine washdowns and sanitization of rail cars three and four. He reports to have felt a dramatic shift in room temperature followed by a slight pinch on his buttock. He began to scan the room for the unseen culprit. Seated in row three of rail car four was the faint specter of Imhotep, a slight grin on his face. Category:Roller Coasters Category:Indoor roller coasters Category:Indoor rides Category:Rides at Universal Studios Florida Category:Rides at Universal Studios Hollywood Category:Universal Studios Florida Category:Universal Studios Hollywood Category:Premier Rides Category:2004